Indian cricket team was completely outplayed by the mighty South Africa side. Sanjay Manjrekar was quite surprised that the management didn’t include Mukesh Kumar in the playing 11 in the opening Test match. Mukesh Kumar not only has the knack of bowling long spells but bowls immaculate line & length.
Indian bowlers except Bumrah that South Africa even without the services of Captain Temba Bavuma who did not bat due to hamstring injury sustained in the match racked up a mountain of runs 408 for 9 wickets to be precise after bundling India for 245 runs thanks to century from KL Rahul and taking the lead of 163 runs in their first Innings.
The support from the likes of Shardul Thakur and debutant Prasidh Krishna was so mediocre that they ended up considering almost 200 runs under 40 overs which provided SA the impetus to score runs freely. The bowlers bowled wayward line and lengths to allow SA batters go for their shots at free will thus were unsuccessful in creating any kind of pressure on them.
This shambolic defeat however did not go with the Indian fans and they have sorted to all the ways on social media to bash and troll the Indian team which seems right at the moment. There was a buzz created around in the media considering lackluster and mediocre bowling by the Indians to the level that experts from cricketing field started discussing their options for the 2nd Test match to be played at Cape Town.
Sanjay Manjrekar praises Mukesh Kumar and wants his inclusion in the 2nd Test match against South Africa
Former Indian cricketer now turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar believes Team India should include right-arm pacer Mukesh Kumar in the playing XI for the upcoming second and final Test of the series against South Africa.
Highlighting the underwhelming performances of pacers Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur in the first Test, Manjrekar stated that he would be surprised to see India going with an unchanged lineup. Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, the cricketer-turned-commentator said:
“From what we have seen in the first Test, I don’t expect Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna to play together in the second Test. There will definitely be one change. If Ravindra Jadeja is fit, it will strengthen our batting. So, if Mukesh Kumar is blowing well in the nets, he could be brought in. He is more suited to these conditions,”
Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna proved expensive in the Boxing Day Test, finishing with economy rates of 5.32 and 4.65, respectively. India lost the match by an innings and 32 runs.
Mukesh Kumar has featured in just one Test so far. The 30-year-old picked up two wickets against West Indies in his debut outing last year. Also in recently concluded T20I and ODI leg of the South African series, Mukesh Kumar was able to swing the white ball both ways as well as bowled yorkers at will in the death when the ball got old extracting swing from the ball thus giving up few runs in the death overs to strand South African batting.
All you can do is hope that the pitch is a bit easier to bat on- Sanjay Manjrekar
Former Indian cricketer now turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar also stated that Team India are unlikely to make any changes to their batting unit for the second Test against South Africa.
He mentioned that the team management will give the young batters another opportunity to prove their worth, adding:
“Since it is a two-match series, you are sometimes forced to make some changes. However, I don’t think India will make any major changes to their batting lineup. Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid would have seen how Yashaswi Jaiswal played in the first inning, and they will continue to back him. You cannot change things with the selection when it comes to batting. All you can do is hope that the pitch is a bit easier to bat on,”
India’s batting let them down in the Test series opener, with KL Rahul and Virat Kohli being the only saving graces. The visitors registered scores of 245 and 131 at Centurion.
Manjrekar pointed out that it won’t be easy for the young Indian batters to carve a niche in red-ball cricket, given that they have risen through the ranks based on their white-ball game, unlike senior batters like Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara. He said:
“It is a long road for these young Indian batters, given that they are products of white-ball and T20 cricket. If you see the earlier set of batters, we have Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, who came to the side ready for Test cricket. It is going to be tough for the youngsters, but India will have to back them,”
The second Test between India and South Africa will be played at Newlands in Cape Town from January 3 to 7.It would be interested to see how Team India bounce back from its defeat in Boxing day test to start year 2024 on a positive note.